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The Power of Story
Caption Contest Recently a contest was held to come up with a caption for the following image from Terry Border's new book: Bent Objects: The Secret Life of Everyday Things There were the standard lines and puns submitted: "We need to stop getting fried so early in...
5 Key Differences Between Spec and Shooting Scripts
Some Definitions A spec script is a screenplay that's written "on speculation." That is, you, the screenwriter, write the script without any development contract or promise of payment in place, in the hopes of getting it optioned, sold, or gaining representation by an...
The Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open – Part 2
Recap A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about my experience in the first round of the Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open writing tournament. After spending a weekend crafting a decent five page scene, I had made it to the quarterfinals. Round Two I was...
A Logline Primer
The Logline or "One Liner" Blake Snyder used to refer to loglines as "the coin of the realm" in Hollywood. Having a great logline is extremely important -- both for pitching your script, and for making sure your story is focused and engaging. If you don't have a...
It was just a dream…
Great article today at The Bitter Scriptreader about the ol' dream cliché: Take note, writers. There are few things you could do that convince me more of your hackitude than having a cop-out ending where everything is revealed as "just a dream." From where I sit, it...
Reaction shots for maximum humor
There's a real joy that comes with learning an inside trick of the trade. In film school, one of the first such screenwriting secrets I remember learning was that funny things are made ten times funnier by showing reactions to them -- reaction shots[1. Now when I say...
No-Spoiler Review of: 2012
As with all my reviews, there will be absolutely NO spoilers. Sometimes even trailer moments will be excluded from my discussion. I hate it when surprises are ruined for me, so I'll never ruin them for you! - Trevor This review is easy. Do you enjoy seeing big budget...
Are Your Female Characters Disney Princesses?
At contexts.org, Jeff Brunner has provided this biting analysis on the "evolution" of Disney's princesses. Are the female characters in your script living in the past too? Make sure you take those negative character clichés and turn them into something positive and...
Always be on your best behavior at Pitch Festivals
Maybe it's because it's Friday the 13th today... Maybe it's because I wrote a post about James Cameron yesterday... Whatever the reason, it's time to tell you... Cautionary Tale #19: Always be on your best behavior at Pitch Festivals [Queue scary music] They say you...
The Return of James Cameron
Man of Extremes In anticipation of the upcoming movie, Avatar, Dana Goodyear of The New Yorker has written an in depth article about James Cameron, his life and his movies. If you don't know who James Cameron is, you A) have some 'splainin' to do, and B) have some...
Don’t get progressive with your tense
Simple is Better I'm sure you already know that your scene descriptions should only be written in the present tense, right? Riiiiight? Okay good. But are you using the simple present tense or the progressive present tense? Whuh? That's a fancy way of saying: Are you...
One Letter Off
Earlier this year, Blake Snyder held a contest that asked people to take a well-known movie title and change just one letter to come up with a funny new concept and logline. A couple of examples: THE HEN COMMANDMENTS A meek Idaho chicken, on the verge of being...